kärna

Swedish

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

From Old Swedish kiærne, from Old Norse kjarni, from Proto-Germanic *kernô (“core, kernel”). Cognate with Icelandic kjarni, German Kern, Dutch kern, Luxembourgish Kär.

Noun

kärna c

1. a seed (of a fruit, nut, berry, or the like)
   1. a seed, a pip (small, hard seed)

      Det är kärnor i mitt röda äpple

      There are seeds in my red apple

   2. a pit, a stone (in a drupe, avocado, or the like)

      Min avokado har en stor kärna

      My avocado has a large pit

      Kärna ur oliverna

      Remove the pits/stones from the olives / Pit/stone the olives

   3. a kernel (edible seed)

      nötens ätliga kärna

      the edible kernel of the nut

2. a kernel, a nucleus, a core (central or most important part)

   jordens kärna

   the core of the Earth

   kärnan i resonemanget

   the core/essence of the argument

3. (computing) a kernel (operating system kernel)

Usage notes

Frö is the general word for seed. A kärna is intuitively a more robust, embedded frö. The distinction is sometimes a bit fuzzy. The smaller or more "flimsy" an embedded seed is, the more likely it is to be called a frö.

Declension

Related terms

Etymology 2

From Old Swedish kerna, from Old Norse kirna, from Proto-Germanic *kernǭ. Cognate with Icelandic kirna, English churn, German Karn, Dutch karn, West Frisian tsjerne.

Noun

kärna c

1. a churn (a vessel used for churning, especially for producing butter)

Declension

Verb

kärna (present kärnar, preterite kärnade, supine kärnat, imperative kärna)

1. to churn

Conjugation

Derived terms

• kärnmjölk
• kärna ur

References

• kärna in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• kärna in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• kärna in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• knäar, räkan, räkna